This was the first time that I had thought about translating the orthogonal geometries of the original lead works into units and about the way that pixelisation of the two-dimensional image could be translated into three dimensions.

 are an attempt to make a body as building, out of welded 25 × 25 × 50 mm blocks of steel. The works are all hollow but made within a mould. The challenge was always to try to make a cogent and self-supporting offset bond of blocks, while at the same time, following the organic contours of the form.

The works are started with the closest possible contact around the heart area, but the inherent geometry of this patterning breaks down towards the extremities of the head and the ankles. The ability of the blocks to lie close to one another also breaks down, making the bond of the blocks increasingly chaotic.

, we ended up making a number of works that suggest an inherent tension, like 

, where the blocks explode from the containing skin, or suspensions, where the blocks are fused in a random jumble.

Early Blockworks

, 2001, 25 × 25 × 50 mm mild steel blocks, 195 × 86 × 40. Photograph by Stephen White, London.

Distress

, 2001, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm, 81 × 59 × 63.

Precipitate

, 2001, 25 × 25 × 50 mm mild steel blocks, 192 × 84 × 37.

Disorder

, 2002, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm, 160 × 53 × 73. Photograph by Stephen White, London.

Spleen II

, 2002, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm and 25 × 25 × 25 mm, 154 × 53 × 65 cm. Photograph by Vincent Evertarts, Brussels.

Gut IV

, 2002, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm and 25 × 25 × 25 mm, 186 × 49 × 34 cm. Photograph by Stephen White, London.

Building I

, 2002, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm and 25 × 25 × 25 mm, 186 × 49 × 34 cm.

Building III

, 2002, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm and 25 × 25 × 25 mm, 80 × 49 × 68 cm. Photograph by Stephen White, London.

Apart IV

, 2002, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm and 25 × 25 × 25 mm, 80 × 49 × 60 cm. Photograph by Stephen White, London.

Apart V

I, 2002, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm and 25 × 25 × 25 mm, 80 × 49 × 68 cm. Photograph by Stephen White, London.

Apart VI

, 2002, mild steel blocks 25 × 25 × 50 mm and 25 × 25 × 25 mm, 79 × 51 × 59 cm. 

Early Blockworks

Related content

Antony Gormley

Time Space Motion

The Last Days Of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse And Resurrection